Heaven is not a paradise wherein you can play with the angels in the fluffy clouds. At least that is what Mitch Albom describes heaven in his book "The Five People You Meet in Heaven". The story isn't as tear jerking as other rags-to-riches kind of stuff but one will surely pick a lesson or two from this story of a man named Eddie.

Prior to his death, Eddie is working as maintenance guy at Ruby Pier, a carnival near the area where he and his brother grew up. It is also where he died when he attempted to save the life of a little girl when one of the carnival rides broke. In heaven, he met five people, whose lives he affected and have affected his life as well. Each person taught him a lesson;

1st person (The Blue Man) - all lives are connected

2nd person (The Captain - commanding officer) - sacrifice

3rd person (Ruby - to whom the carnival was named after) - forgiveness

4th person (Marguerite - his wife) - love

5th person (Tala - the kid inside the hut they burned in the Philippines) - how his work kept everyone safe

Although this book centers on the death of a person, it is not focused on helping someone overcome the death of a loved one. It is more on understanding life, how one's actions and decisions affect others and how others affect that person's life as well.

We attended a friend's wedding in Kalibo a couple of weeks ago. Since we're in Aklan, we grabbed the opportunity to visit Sampaguita Gardens Resort and Spa where the whimsical Jojo's Christmas Cottage is located. The cottage, a three-storey Western style structure, is filled with Precious Moments dolls of all sizes and designs. The dolls, cottage and the whole resort are a testimony how creative Mr. Sam Butcher (creator of Precious Moments and owner of resort) is.

It has been ages since the last time I published about fashion blah blah and I must say, I miss doing the things I find entertaining - that is to mix and match outfits on looklet and post them on my blog. But then, maintaining more than a couple of blogs can be very tedious so that made me decide to publish fashion-related posts here and probably delete my so-called fashion blog if I have figured out what to do with my past posts on that blog.

For my first entry, I would like to post an outfit which I have been thinking of wearing to work but cannot do so since I have not yet completed the pieces. LOL!

Yes, that simple loose shirt and tights! I already have a gray printed tights but I don't have a plain white loose shirt and flat oxford shoes I can pair it with. I'm considering men's V-neck shirt from Hanes and that floral pink oxford I found at the mall a week ago. Hopefully the shoes will still be there when I have enough budget for it. :D

In this look:

Scarf by jojo&malou
Shoulderbag by Mulberry
Watch by Michael Kors
Bracelet by Just Africa
T-shirt by Carin Wester
Bra by Y-3 by adidas
Flats by Pull & Bear
Tights by Monki

This is my first mineral makeup and being such a no-expert when it comes to makeup, I was kinda doubtful about this. And since I am a kind of person who tries to find out more about a product first before buying, I checked out makeupalley.com to get the assessment of various people who are using or have used Wet n' Wild Ultimate Minerals Loose Blush. Out of 22 people, 86% said that they would buy the product again. For me, that is enough to give this product a go.

The product is packed in hard plastic transparent container that has a sifter with snap top cover that is connected to the container and silver gray lid thus it is less likely to spill all over your bag. To avoid mess when using this product, I open the snap top cover and tap a small amount into the gray lid and work my way from there.

I have this in pinched pink (shade 163) and is very pigmented hence one only needs very little amount to get that pinkish health glow. This shade is not shimmery and goes on smoothly thus perfect if you want to create natural look. One thing I do not like about this product is the smell but I am not sure if that is what mineral-based formula smells like. The smell is not that horrible though however I would prefer unscented or clean-smelling makeup.

When I got this from eBay, the seller stated that it is made and bought in the US. However, upon receiving this product and reading the product information, I discovered that this makeup from a US company is made in China. Probably the seller indeed bought it from the US not knowing that the product is actually made in China (hello outsourcing?). But that really doesn't matter to me. So long as it won't give me allergies or skin irritation (and it hasn't happened so far), I'd continue using this product and would probably buy again if my current one runs out.

I cannot forget the weekend I spent in this place for it was one of the loveliest weekends I ever had. We braved the rain and bouncy rough road just to reach this amazing place wherein toilet and bath rooms are either open or only covered with bamboo blinds. Privacy is never an issue despite the open toilet and bath since the cottages are a few meters away from each other.

Located in Tando, Nueva Valencia in the Island of Guimaras, the resort has only three cottages (one large cottage for group and family and two small cottages for couple) thus the need to book before going there. If you want to relax and commune with nature, then this resort is the place to be.

Anyhow, All Organics Tomato Lime soap is a pink-colored soap with a bit of yellow markings on some parts (since it has lime). The scent is strong for me at first but after a few days of using, I find it okay. It produces creamy lather when applied to wet skin and can also produce bubble lather when used with mesh shower sponge. Like most organic soaps, this one from All Organics also dissolves easily but not as much as the one from Cyleina. It doesn't even sting during first use, probably because my skin is already used to organic products.

I never had problem with this soap until after around three days of using. It caused breakouts (like five pimples at a time) in some parts of my face. I was worried that the breakouts may get worse if I will continue using thus I stopped using the soap right then. But since I am a frugal consumer, I didn't send it to the trash can right away. I am still using it on my body other than my face.

I do not believe that this All Organics Tomato Lime soap is a waste of money but I guess it just doesn't suit my skin type.

About Me

Hi! I'm Cecille, the person behind RuralDame.Com. I am an Iloilo-based mama who blogs about home and family life, beauty, travel and food. Read more about me and my day-to-day shenanigans with my now one-year old boy and his gamer papa.